


Nothing Says "Thank you!" Like Food

by wei



Category: Tonari no Totoro | My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-19
Updated: 2010-12-19
Packaged: 2017-10-13 19:29:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/140883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wei/pseuds/wei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Satsuki and Mei want to thank everyone.  With much gratitude to elfwreck for the kind beta.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing Says "Thank you!" Like Food

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Katarik](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katarik/gifts).



Catbus had dropped Satsuki and Mei off in their yard, and the first thing the two of them did was run out to tell Nanny and the rest of the village that they were all right. The moments after that were filled with shouts of joy and tears of relief. Mei was hugged and passed from arms to arms and it seemed that her feet did not touch the ground until they were back at Nanny’s house.

“How did you find her?” Nanny asked, and Satsuki wasn’t sure how to start, but Mei excitedly chattered about “Catbus” and “Totoro” and “Seeing Mommy,” and it all went tumbling out of Satsuki as well. She wasn’t sure how Nanny managed to understand their jumbled up exclamations because there was just so much to explain, but she seemed as skilled as Daddy and Mommy at doing that.

Mei let out a big yawn, and it seemed that the events of the day had caught up to her. “Go to bed,” said Satsuki, and Mei countered with an “I’m not sleepy” punctuated by another yawn.

“You’re yawning so widely you look just like Totoro! I’ll wake you up when Daddy comes back, okay?” said Satsuki.

“I’m sorry for worrying all of you,” said Satsuki after Mei had been tucked away. Mei had refused to release Satsuki’s hand, so Satsuki and Nanny sat on the pallet next to her, and within moments, Mei had dropped off into sleep.

“We were all happy to do it. Everyone’s just so relieved that Mei’s safe,” said Nanny.

“I want to thank you all. And Totoro and Catbus too! I’m just not sure how,” said Satsuki.

Eventually, Nanny and Satsuki decided to have a big potluck the next weekend to thank everyone. “As much as I love cooking, even I can’t cook for the entire village. But it would be a good time for everyone in the village to get to know you and your family.”

The next Sunday, Satsuki and Mei woke up early to help prepare food. It was almost as chaotic as when they were moving out of their old house and piling all their possessions into the car. Their small kitchen (which even normally felt slightly cluttered) was so crowded, the people were spilling out into the yard. Daddy was hovering over the stove, Nanny was chopping up vegetables, and Kanta was running back and forth between his parents and his uncle and aunt. Even Mei was “helping” Michiko and Satsuki roll the rice cakes into balls. (Although Mei seemed much more interested in eating the red bean filling and making a mess).

“Thank you,” Satsuki said to Michiko and Nanny’s family; “Now I owe you all even more!”

“But that is what we are here for: to take care of one another,” replied Nanny.

Somehow, the frantic preparation gave way to mouthwatering amounts of food. Satsuki carefully set aside a few of the roundest, prettiest rice cake balls and Daddy’s bamboo wrapped glutinous rice, and then went outside to play with Michiko and Mei until the rest of the village arrived.

More and more children arrived, and their aimless running around in circles turned into a game of tag and then into an impromptu baseball game, and the potluck turned into a party, and finally, oddly enough, Satsuki felt that once again, she was the beneficiary of the village’s love and care.

“Oooof!” exclaimed Satsuki; “I’m so stuffed I can’t move.”

“Ooof,” Mei mimicked, sitting down in a pile next to her, but she could tell that Mei was much too excited to sit still for long, and soon, Satsuki saw her get up and run again and come back trailed by four adoring shadows of her own.

Later, after the crowd had disappeared and the cleaning up was mostly done, Satsuki asked Daddy if she and Mei could go to the camphor tree.

“Yes, but make sure you come back right after you’re done,” he said. “It’s getting kind of late.”

“We will” chorused Satsuki and Mei together.

“Thank Totoro for me, too,” added Daddy, and Satsuki promised that they would.

Then, she took Mei by one hand, and held a basket in the other, and they ducked into the tunnel through the bushes.

“Wheee!” she and Mei yelled as they fell through and landed on Totoro’s stomach.

Mei rubbed Totoro’s nose. “Still sleeping?” she asked.

“Roooo!” they heard, Totoro’s yawn turning into a roar.

Satsuki and Mei slid down to the ground as he sat up. Satsuki untied her gift, and she and Mei presented the rice cake balls to Totoro.

“Daddy, Mei and I wanted to thank you,” said Satsuki.

“I helped make them!” said Mei.

Totoro poked at the ball and made a questioning sound when it stuck on his claw.

“We weren’t sure if you’d like it, so we also brought you this,” said Satsuki. She brought out the bamboo wrapped glutinous rice. “It looks like the gift of seeds you gave us, so we thought you might like it.”

Satsuki bowed, and Mei copied her. “Thank you for finding Mei,” said Satsuki. “We brought some extra for Cat-bus, so if you could thank him for us, also?”

Totoro roared his agreement, and a small totoro appeared. He started scurrying towards a tunnel, and Mei started to chase after him with a large grin.

“Is, is he leading us out?” asked Satsuki. Totoro roared in response, and Satsuki decided that it was a yes, and she ran after Mei.

The totoro disappeared past a small rise in the tunnel, and Satsuki and Mei tumbled down the drop after the rise to land in at the base of the bushes in their yard. For a moment, the breath was knocked out of them and they were silent, but then they started laughing.

“I wonder if Totoro and Cat-bus like the food,” said Satsuki.

“I can’t wait until Mommy comes home” said Mei. “I wonder if she will be able to see Totoro?”

“Well, we’ll find out next week. I can’t wait until she’s home too,” replied Satsuki. Then, they ran inside to find Daddy and tell him about their day.


End file.
